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You will agree when I say that being a male or a female is not really an advantage or disadvantage. And that either gender should be allowed to pursue whatever

by anoncow 14y ago

You will agree when I say that being a male or a female is not really an advantage or disadvantage. And that either gender should be allowed to pursue whatever they like. If the teacher, society and everyone else in the world says to your little one that she cannot do it, you say to her she can. Because she can and your gender doesn't matter. And when you start telling your daughter that she can, that is one less person in the "society" who says she can't or shouldn't. When you tell your daughter that there is nothing that a girl or a boy cannot do, your daughter will grow up to be one more impartial member of the society. And I think you will agree with me when I say that it is better to have a public repository, if you want to learn(unless ofcourse github wants female programmers to become closed source programmers). By handing out a freebie to the girls, you are telling the boys the exact same thing which your daughter's teacher told her. We don't want girls/boys to become programmers, we want them to become whatever they want to. Having promotional activities for females may send a wrong impresion about a particular field to boys - who are also as human and as impresionable as the girls are in school. How many boys do you think take up engineering, just because it is seen as a manly branch and the society expects them to? I would argue many and that is a massive disadvantage to the boys who want to pursue something else. We should aim at leveling the field instead of providing some people a helping hand at the cost of others. If helping girls take up CS is done by having girls-only CS colleges, free tuition for female CS students or free course material or as in this case free services based on gender, I will say stop. Because boys who are thinking of taking up CS will cry foul. What did your neighbour's son do to not deserve a free github private repo? Instead, try changing the society. Tell your sons and daughters they can do anything. Tell your students that gender means nothing. Tell the teachers at your daughters school to back off and complain about her to the school authorities. To be honest, I have no idea if that will work. But what I do believe is if you start handing out freebies to someone based on gender, it will poison the well for the boys, who will cry foul. It wasn't their fault they were born as boys. Equality - yes. Preferential treatment - no.

jmj42 14y ago
Actually, I don't agree with much of what you've said. Men do have advantages, socially, politically, and economically, that women do not have, and those advantages are far more prevalent in STEM fields than most others. These programs, directed at young women, act as a counter-balance (though a weak one) to the societal pressures that keep them out of technology in the first place. When men (of any age) cry foul, well, I just don't have any sympathy. Even with these programs, the scales still weigh heavily in our favor. Up to this point, I've not taken a stance on this particular program, but I will not. There's plenty of research that suggests that the impact of public ridicule on young women is different than the impact on young men. While the reasons for this aren't, necessarily, clear, the reaction is different. Allowing young women to develop their skills in a "safe" environment where criticism can be sought from trusted sources prior to making that work public has been shown to be beneficial. So, in the end, I do support the idea of making it easier for young women to to get private github accounts. As I also support "girls only" clubs that help develop their skills, and counter act the social pressures that push young women away from technology in the first place. These programs do exactly as you suggest, they attempt to level the playing field by giving women certain advantages and encouragement to balance the social, political, and economic advantages that men already have. Until such time as we actually have gender equality, these programs are necessary.
- anoncow 14y ago
  I certainly hope that a time comes when things are better. Not just for women and not just in IT. I don't know the situation on the ground and neither do I work in education. The views above are what I hold with the limited experience that i have had and are malleable.

by anoncow 14y ago

jmj42 14y ago

Actually, I don't agree with much of what you've said. Men do have advantages, socially, politically, and economically, that women do not have, and those advantages are far more prevalent in STEM fields than most others. These programs, directed at young women, act as a counter-balance (though a weak one) to the societal pressures that keep them out of technology in the first place. When men (of any age) cry foul, well, I just don't have any sympathy. Even with these programs, the scales still weigh heavily in our favor. Up to this point, I've not taken a stance on this particular program, but I will not. There's plenty of research that suggests that the impact of public ridicule on young women is different than the impact on young men. While the reasons for this aren't, necessarily, clear, the reaction is different. Allowing young women to develop their skills in a "safe" environment where criticism can be sought from trusted sources prior to making that work public has been shown to be beneficial. So, in the end, I do support the idea of making it easier for young women to to get private github accounts. As I also support "girls only" clubs that help develop their skills, and counter act the social pressures that push young women away from technology in the first place. These programs do exactly as you suggest, they attempt to level the playing field by giving women certain advantages and encouragement to balance the social, political, and economic advantages that men already have. Until such time as we actually have gender equality, these programs are necessary.

anoncow 14y ago
I certainly hope that a time comes when things are better. Not just for women and not just in IT. I don't know the situation on the ground and neither do I work in education. The views above are what I hold with the limited experience that i have had and are malleable.